The Importance of Studying Scripture

Scottish Gaelic is a notoriously difficult language to learn, partly due to its grammatical structures. Take, for example, this common phrase:
“Alba gu bràth” = Scotland forever

That’s all well and good, if not a bit cheesy, but countless times I have seen it written as:
“Alba gu brath” = Scotland (for) spy/ Scotland (for) treachery

More than a slight difference!

It’s all down to that little stroke above the à. That little stroke is called a grave, and it appears above the vowels in various words of the same spelling. Its appearance can drastically change the meaning of the word, and indeed the meaning of the whole sentence or text.

It’s a very easy mistake to make, and in a glance it makes no real difference to the phrase—it still pretty much reads the same. Only on a more careful inspection do you notice the difference, and only once engaged in a deeper study do you see the massive difference it has made to the text.

Comparing the Words

Countless times in Scripture we are told to carefully study the word of God. The study of this word guides our steps (Psalm 119:105), it helps to keep us from sin (Psalm 119:11), it is a weapon that can outperform any other (Hebrews 4:12), it nourishes us (Luke 4:5) and it is part of the armor of the Christian (Ephesians 6:10-18). Not just part of the armor, it is our only form of attack—it is our sword. And like a fighter with his sword, if we are not well practiced in its use then we will not fight effectively with it.

Since the Bible is our sword, our form of attack, this makes it a prime target for our enemy. The enemy is expert at trying to twist and turn the sword so much that it becomes of no use to us.

We can see this right back when our first parents fell into sin. What tempted them to sin? It was, of course, Satan twisting God’s words: “Did God actually say…” In Genesis 3:1-5 we see the first time the enemy twists the words of God for his own ends, and we see it again when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness—Satan came to Him with parts of scripture, attempting to make Jesus sin. How did Jesus stop Satan? He answered his twisted scripture with Scripture.

Changing the Meaning

It’s no different in our world today. There are plenty groups willing to twist the word of God to their own ends. One example is found in the New World Translation, which is the scripture used by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. If you take a brief glance through it, it looks just the same as any other Bible translation, but like our Gaelic phrase, on closer inspection, there are some small changes in the text that completely shift the meaning and purpose of the Gospel.

A subtle, but incredibly important, difference is to be found in their translation of John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”

One extra letter inserted here by the Jehovah’s Witness version of the Bible, and Christ is robbed of His divinity; His special place at the right hand of the Father is gone. He is now just one god among many. That one letter changes all that we believe Christ to be, and if He was not who He claimed to be, He was a liar, and if He was a liar then we have no hope for salvation. By that small twist in the word of God, we see the whole plan of salvation collapsing down. There are plenty of other examples of slight changes throughout the New World Translation that Jehovah’s Witnesseses use to throw out the divinity of Christ.

Our reading and study of the Bible cannot just be glancing or superficial; if we are to grow, stand strong and be able to defend our faith, we need to know and understand what Scripture says, exactly. That way, if someone challenges or asks us why isn’t the New World Translation right, or why not the Qur’an or the book of Mormon, we can give an answer.

We have to be, as Peter wrote, “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15). And as Paul wrote to Timothy, “be ready in season and out of season; [to] reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

Our Hope

What is this hope that the Christian has? It is the sure hope that we are not our own, we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), that we worship a Savior who knows our afflictions and weakness yet is himself sinless (Hebrews 4:15), that we worship the King who came down out of Glory to die at the hands of his own creations (Colossians 1:16), we worship a Savior who promises to one day come back and collect his church to be with him for all eternity. (Matthew 24:31)

Without Scripture, without the word of God, we would know none of this. So, since we do have access to the very words of God, we should take more care in the study of them. Of course, we won’t understand everything we read; in fact, if in our reading we have no questions at all, then maybe our reading isn’t going very deep.

We have to pray that the Spirit would open our eyes to what is being read, after all he inspired the writers on the first place. This is also one of the reasons that we have the Church, so we can, as brothers and sisters, discuss these passages with one another, and together grow stronger in the use of our only weapon.

“The more you read the Bible; and the more you meditate on it, the more you will be astonished with it.” – Charles Spurgeon

I am Donald or Dollag to my friends, from the beautiful Island of Lewis up in Scotland.
Studying a my last year of a degree in Gaelic Language and Culture.
I write these blogs under no illusion of perfection , I have many of my own faults and failings but I thank my God that as much of a sinner as I am , by his grace and love alone I am saved.

many people say the bible is too long , we cannot overemphasize the sutyd of scripture, Jesus is Word who became flesh if we love him we love to listen to His word we appreciate your friendship, join our group THE CALL OF SALVATION –Those who hear God’s plan of salvation must respond. The appropriate response is to repent of all sin (2 Corinthians 7:10) and to have faith in what God has accomplished through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15; 1 Peter 1:9). Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, every man, woman, boy, and girl can be saved from death and eternal separation from God. The Bible says we must believe and confess that Jesus is the Lord of our lives (Romans 10:8-10). If we do that we can have a personal relationship with God and spend eternity in heaven with him.SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF SALVATIONThis simple message was the theme of the early church (Acts 4:12; Acts 13:23-26; Acts 16:30-31). The apostle Paul played a unique role in taking the message of salvation to all people. He taught that God’s gift of salvation was available to anyone in need (Romans 1:16; 1 Timothy 2:11). As a Jew, he naturally wanted Jews to be saved (Romans 10:1). However, he also had a passion for bringing the good news of God’s grace to the non-Jewish people—the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-13).SALVATION IN THE BIBLEThe Bible uses many other terms to give us a picture of what salvation means. The Bible speaks of being made alive in Christ. Jesus describes this as being “born again” (John 3:3). Justification is a lengthy courtroom term that describes our innocent standing before God. The word redemption tells us how we were rescued: Jesus redeemed us. He purchased our freedom from sin with his own death. The word reconciliation describes the change in our relationship with God—we now are reconciled, or have peace, with him. The word propitiation ties together the Old Testament system of animal sacrifice with the New Testament description of Christ’s death as a means of turning away God’s wrath. Each of these terms (and others) shares some common ground with the biblical concept of salvation. They are like pieces of a puzzle that come together to portray the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Savior.https://www.facebook.com/groups/642237375851621/?ref=bookmarks like and share https://www.facebook.com/pages/God-Save-the-World-Inc/293577334015293?ref=bookmarks

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